British Prime Minister Tony Blair has done much in his short tenure to further the cause of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. The time has come for him to do something more: Reopen an investigation into the deaths of 14 civilians in the town of Londonderry (also known as Derry) on Jan. 30, 1972.
On that day, known in the North and the Republic of Ireland as Bloody Sunday, British troops fired on a group of marchers protesting the British policy of jailing suspected terrorists without charges or trial. No soldiers were wounded, and no evidence of civilian weapons was found, but a hasty investigation headed by Lord Widgery, then the Lord Chief Justice of Britain, exonerated the troops and suggested a "strong suspicion" that the marchers had been armed.
Bloody Sunday and the highly questionable findings of the Widgery Tribunal are to this day more than just another ghastly chapter in the decades-old battle in Northern Ireland between Catholics, whose ties are to the Republic, and pro-British Protestants. The events represent for Catholics a travesty of justice and a blatant government coverup.
What's more, Bloody Sunday became the catalyst for scores of Catholic youths in Northern Ireland to take up the cause against British control, swelling the ranks of the guerrilla Irish Republican Army.
On Thursday, Blair will meet with Gerry Adams, leader of the political arm of the IRA, at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's official residence. And though the meeting is being billed by the government as part of a series of routine meetings between Blair and Northern Irish party leaders, this one is fraught with symbolism, as was their handshake in October.
Not since 1921, when Prime Minister David Lloyd George met with Michael Collins, has a British head of state met with an Irish Republican leader. Like his apology for England's role in the Irish potato famine, it's an example of Blair's commitment to recognize, not marginalize, the North's Catholic minority.
Reopening the Bloody Sunday investigation would build on that commitment, especially in light of new evidence of British sniper fire that was never considered by the previous tribunal. Blair should not be deterred by fears that bringing up the matter again will jeopardize the Belfast peace talks by alienating parties loyal to Britain, for most of them have indicated that they understand the grievance.
The trust, balance and fair play so critical to the success of those talks can be advanced by an open and honest assessment of what happened in the streets of Londonderry on Bloody Sunday.